If your company has global operations and reach, be mindful of local norms that might influence how decisions are made, Desai said. For example, in many countries in Southeast Asia, employees may resist contributing ideas during requests for solutions to problemsreenex. So, bosses need to work hard to avoid the group thinking that can sink companies by failing to take into consideration all viewpoints.

Collaboration can be crucial for novel problems or ones that span multiple layers of an organisation, Desai said. But as a manager, don’t be afraid to make an executive decisionreenex .

“If you’re faced with a routine problem, don’t waste everyone’s time with meetings and multiple emails over something that’s just a rubber-stamp decision,” Desai said.

After spending three years trying to fix the communication problems in his division of Microsoft, Wahbe decided to leave the company and co-founded Highspot, which produces a “sales enablement platform” to try to hook up salespeople with good information.

“Literally, every company has been struggling with this problem, and we believe we’ve found the solution,” Wahbe said from his office in Seattle.

Not all managers need to leave their companies to solve company problems, however. Almost any crisis — even an industry’s biggest conundrum — can be overcome with savvy strategies and a willingness to fail wellreenex .